Braided plastic sleeving is much used in the electronic industry as a protective covering for wires and electronic components. Such sleeving is manufactured in bulk in very long lengths and must therefore be cut into predetermined lengths prior to use. Because the sleeving is woven or braided, if the cut end is left untreated it frays. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to not only cut the sleeving to the predetermined lengths but also fuse the cut ends to prevent fraying. As used herein, the word "braided" is intended to refer to all manner of sleeving woven or otherwise formed from individual threads or filaments, irrespective of the nature of the weave or forming method.
In the prior art, cutting and sealing of braided sleeving has been accomplished by cutting the sleeving with a shear or knife and then applying heat to the cut so that the ends of the individual fibers are slightly melted and fused together. However, this prior art process suffers from the deficiency that two operations are required. A further difficulty with the prior art method is that, in general, the sleeve must be expanded into its round form before being fused in order to prevent the cut ends from completely sticking together, and thereby sealing the sleeve closed. This problem is much more severe with braided sleeving than solid sleeving since the braided sleeving is comparatively limp and the adjacent wall portions tend to fall together and weld shut when heated unless the cut ends are held open, i.e. expanded into a round shape.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a single step process for cutting braided plastic sleeve to a predetermined length and fusing the ends to prevent fraying without sealing the ends shut. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved means and method for simultaneously cutting and end-fusing braided plastic sleeving into predetermined length while the sleeving is held flat.